HB0870_H_Amend

SECTION 1. Section 37-101-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-3. (1) The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, * * *. The board of trustees shall be composed of twelve (12) members, consisting of four (4) members from each Mississippi Supreme Court District, each of whom shall serve a term of nine (9) years. The members serving on the board of trustees as constituted on January 1, 2020, shall continue to serve until the expiration of their respective terms of office. Thereafter, in making appointments to the board to fill vacancies created by the expiration of members' terms, the Governor shall appoint an alumnus of each state institution of higher learning until each of the eight (8) state institutions of higher learning are represented on the board. The institutional alumni representative appointed by the Governor to the board of trustees shall only be appointed from a list of up to five (5) qualified alumni candidates submitted to the Governor by the respective institution's Student Government Association, National Alumni Association and Faculty/Staff Senate.

The current president, or his/her designee, of the Student Body President's Council of Mississippi (SBPCM) shall have a reserved seat at each meeting of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. No less than once a year, the board shall seek the advise and counsel of the student body president's organization.

(2) In case of a vacancy on said board by death or resignation of a member or from any other cause than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his or her successor who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the Legislature. During such term of the session of the Legislature, the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his or her predecessor was appointed to hold office until the end of the period or term for which said original trustee was appointed, to the end that one-third (1/3) of such trustees' terms shall expire each four (4) years.

(3) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board, or his or her designee, and one (1) member of the Mississippi Community College Board, to be designated by the chairman of said board, shall attend all regular meetings of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. Said community/junior college representatives shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board and any designee who is a state employee shall receive no per diem for attending meetings of the board, but shall be entitled to actual and necessary expense reimbursement and mileage for attending meetings at locations other than Jackson, Mississippi. The designee of the Mississippi Community College Board shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for attending said meetings, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual expense reimbursement and mileage, which shall be paid from funds appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.